1812: War with America

If what you know about the War of 1812 amounts to a bunch of pretty embarrassing American losses in Canada (and pretty much elsewhere), a few wins at sea, and oh, yes, the burning of Washington, D.C....well, you have it in one.No, I don't count the "Battle of New Orleans" as a win (the song or the battle).But there's so much more to the story, so much nuance. 1812: War with America lays it all out. Take the New England Federalists who traded with the British throughout the war (and the wartime American crops that went to feed Wellington's troops). They were paid in specie, a rare commodity at the time, and those New England riches went on to fund the American Industrial Revolution.It may not be obvious from the title, but this is a rare history of the War of 1812 (the American War, to the British at the time), written from a British point of view. It's the most thorough history of the war I've ever read, and I've read a few.The book is really only 408 pages (not 656). The rest are notes, AMAZING notes, and bibliography. The notes alone make this book worth the investment. I spent as much time perusing them and discovering sources that I want to read as I did reading the actual text.There are places where I bristled. I think I'm open-minded and skeptical, but some national heroes/myths die hard. Every time I felt I was getting little annoyed or wondering about British bias (a complaint I'd seen in other reviews), I stopped and realized that my bias was what was causing the cognitive dissonance. It was painful to realize how far astray I'd been led.(However, I'm still pissed off about the sack of Washington. The Library of Congress! Bastards!)Definitely a must-read if you love American history, especially during these bicentennial years. Truly masterful. (It's also the only history that I've read and thought, "Damn, I wish I'd written this.")

Jon Latimer approached this book on the War of 1812 with a goal to set this war in a broader context and to introduce a substantial amount of English archival material about the conflict. The work is well written, authoritative, and thoroughly documented. The work provides a fascinating context for understanding the United State's aspirations towards Canada and its' virulent anglophobia that persisted until the advent of World War II. My only problem with this book was that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between the affiliations of the officers and units engaged in the conflict (make a "cheat sheet"). A good read for anyone who wishes to have a deeper understanding about this complex and confused skirmish with our English kin.

Jon Latimer's book, 1812, provides a lot of information about the battles in that war, but he occasionally allows his British biases to get in the way of the truth. At the end of the book he claims that Americans have falsely claimed to have won the War of 1812. But most Americans consider the war to have been a draw. He also exaggerates America's supposed hatred of Britain--a hatred he claims came about as a result of the war. Latimer writes that America's hostility to Britain did not end until 1940. He completely ignores the fact that the United States and Britain were allies during WWI.One minor factual error occurs on page 404 when Latimer writes that James Monroe became president in 1816. Monroe became president in 1817.If one wants to read about the military history of the war the book is good. But when it comes to the causes of the war and what motivated the Americans to fight, the book is poor.

This well researched and written book, describing the War of 1812 from the English point of view is an excellent counterbalance to the many books written from the American standpoint. Each chapter is relatively short, centered on one topic and includes both sea and land actions, supported by the political thinking behind them. Given the current 2012 interest in trade sanctions it is interesting to read of them being used in the past and the various measures by the sectors most affected, producers, shippers, and traders to bypass the govenments attempts to limit curtail the effects of these transactions on their businesses.The maps are very helful in visualising the various areas most closely involved. From the point of view of a genealogist, the many names that appear in the text provide ideas for further research into the part your family played in this war.

Although I was somewhat familiar with political issues of that time, this is the first book I have read about the war itself. Besides giving an international overview of the war from the British perspective, Latimer provides many fine and personal details of battles and skirmishes of American involvement - far more than I was anticipating.Judging from the extent of detail, I'd say that this is pretty well researched. Before receiving this book, the 600+ pages sounded like a long read. However, 143 pages are devoted to notes and 57 pages to bibliography.

This book is well researched and it would not surprise me if others who have read more about the War of 1812 thought this book to be the most comprehensive. That being said, I found the presentation to be on the dry side. Sometimes history books are written in a manner so as to inspire me to read as much additional information I can about the subject matter. Perhaps, because this book is so thorough, I did not feel that inspiration here. At the end of the day, I was just a little bored with the War of 1812.

This book describes the War of 1812 from the British point of view. It is especially illuminating with regard to British operations in the Chesapeake Bay.This argues that the British were motivated to defend Canada from the New Republic that sought annexation.

A good history of the 1812 War. Particularly as it shows the rampant imperialistic expansionism that was prevalent in the US during the 1800's.

This is probably the best book I’ve read regarding this war and I’ve read many . It’s through the perspective of the British instead of the usual American one sided history of the war that most American authors adhere too, with their defeats , of which there were many, glossed over and tiny skirmishes portrayed as colossal battles . The book explains the reason for the war in context with the war with Napoleon . This was far from a second war of independence , it was a war of aggression by the US , hoping to take advantage of Britain’s epic struggle in Europe . The USA invaded Canada eleven times and were defeated on every occasion by numerically inferior British forces . By 1815,the USA was crippled economically and the White House burnt . Britain achieved all of its war aims while the USA , none . Despite the bravado of American authors ,this was an American defeat

This is an excellent book. The book covers the 1812-1815 war on land and at sea in detail, including famous events such as Old Ironsides, the death of Tecumseh, and the burning of the White House. The book is beautifully printed, with 'hand-drawn' maps and images, although no glossy plates. The test is well-written, being clear and engaging. Recommended.

Interesting

This is the first British account of the Anglo - American war of 1812 written fot a long time. It was very readable and honest. It clearly sets out to change the opinion of the war (largely American - it is even less well known outside of America) as another War Of Independence and a conflict that was a clear American victory against British aggression. The author shows that the war was started by the Americans and their aims to improve their naval / sailors rights and to grab land of Canada were both failures. The British got v little out of the war either - apart from a lot of casualties and a lot of debt. The Americans put up some pretty stuiff resistance against the British and Canadians - Britain herself was embroiled in the latter stages of the Napoleonic War at the time - a conflict that must have seemed like a 20th century world war. The author puts the War of 1812 in the much wider contect of the Napoleonic Wars and treats it as an interesting sideshow to that event. The American navy did particularly well against its much more powerful adversary.Up to now I have read several books on the War of 1812 - all I beleive written by Americans - some general books on the entire conflict and one about the British defeat at New Orleans. This book has redressed the balance that I got from these books which tended to hero worship the Americans - particularly the futurer President Andrew Jackson who comes across in this book as not altogether pleasant and a bit of a war monger.This is a great book and I hope it is read by a lot of Napoleonic / War of 1812 ehthusiasts.

Made a great gift